6 ms·

I have this feeling that kids tend to hate where they grow up due to all of the perceived failings and things they're missing out on. I grew up in a relaxed be

by nkozyra 12y ago

I have this feeling that kids tend to hate where they grow up due to all of the perceived failings and things they're missing out on. I grew up in a relaxed beach town in Florida, and hated it. My family all moved from NYC and fell in love in a heartbeat. Something about not being in the same place for too long applies here, too.

kenrikm 12y ago
Grew up in Fort Lauderdale (city) and my family owned land over in Everglades City (country) where we would go and enjoy the outdoors. Swimming fishing and boating in the 10,000 islands. Overall I actually had a pretty good childhood. A few years ago I moved to the Bay Area and do like it here. However recently I've been looking to purchase some land just outside the Bay Area to build a small cabin and grow a garden,and enjoy the outdoors. I feel like it's important that my son not just grow up in an apartment playing on playgrounds with rubberized ground so he does not hurt himself.
- declan 12y ago
  >I've been looking to purchase some land just outside the Bay Area to build a small cabin... You can do this in the Bay Area itself, though in general the closer you want to be to a supermarket, bank, etc. the more you'll pay. If you're west of Palo Alto, Los Altos, Mountain View, Cupertino and cross the 280, you encounter rural areas very quickly. And if you head far enough into the hills, prices begin to fall rapidly relative to flatland prices. Near Boulder Creek, for instance, you can get 2 acres for $52K that's three miles from a shopping area: https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Lorenzo-Valley/0-HARMON-GULCH-95006/home/23468434 https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Lorenzo-Valley/0-HARMON-GULCH-... That's 23 miles from Cupertino via route 17 and smaller roads. Of course it helps if you enjoy living in the middle of the woods! I've posted about this concept on HN before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9437492 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9437492
  - kenrikm 12y ago
    Yup, also if you head south you get more open ground and the prices fall rapidly. For example I found a some land within an hour of San Jose with 100acres for 200k. The trick is finding a lot with good water access. I'm up in San Mateo so it's a bit more of a drive. Ideally I could get somthing within an hour and a half drive at a reasonable price.
    - declan 12y ago
      That's cheaper than I thought it would be! But if you're trying to get to a job in San Mateo from someplace like Gilroy or Hollister, that would be a bit of a hellish commute. Maybe you could pull it off more easily if you work off-hours? Also if you're within an hour's drive of San Jose you may be paying Silicon Valley prices for new construction, which tends not to be cheap. But if you're willing to live that far from work and can find water and a nice lot, I'd give it a try. Also with a private pilot certificate you could fly an older ~$20K Cessna from South County or Hollister to KSQL pretty quickly on most days -- certainly a fraction of your effective groundspeed in 101 traffic -- and bike from there to work.
      - sedachv 12y ago
        Thanks a lot for the airplane tip, I had no idea you could get a decent Cessna 172 for 20-30k. That would certainly be an awesome commute.
        declan 12y ago
        Quite welcome! Engineers (I take it you are one) seem to make natural pilots, in my experience. I don't own a plane but have in the post thought idly about commuting to the SF bay area from the Sierras. I've heard of pilots doing it from Pine Mountain Lake in the foothills, for instance, and a faster plane would make living in Nevada doable. Trade-A-Plane lists 145 Cessnas for sale under $30K, though most in that range are 152s. There are a few older 172s: http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/aircraft/Single+Engine+Piston/1969/Cessna/172K+Skyhawk/2074188.html http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/aircraft/Single+Engine+P... It would be nice to have the additional capacity of a 172, especially if you want to (a) fly with two friends, for three people total or (b) you're a large or heavy person yourself, which might exceed the maximum payload of a 152 with a similarly large or heavy flight instructor or passenger. Also I don't think 152s can be IFR certified. It is kinda funny that these older Cessnas are now cheaper than the average car! Anyway, good luck on your project!
- dougmccune 12y ago
  If you're in the Bay Area and want your kid exposed to less sheltered play spaces, there's the Adventure Playground in Berkeley, where kids can get tokens for collecting rusty nails and then trade them in for paint to paint all the play structures. http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/adventureplayground/ http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/adventureplayground/
Immortalin 12y ago
After all, the grass is always greener on the other side..
- M8 12y ago
  And that is why our species is present on all continents.
- jefurii 12y ago
  Except in California.
silverbax88 12y ago
I was born in a large city and we moved to a rural area when I was in grade school. We lived there for years and it was okay, but when I was a teenager I moved out at 16 and made my way back to the big city. I never moved back to the country. Okay to visit, but fuck that, I realized quickly that I much preferred the city over the country.
coldtea 12y ago
>I have this feeling that kids tend to hate where they grow up Even so, you don't hear as many kids hating on the big city as they hate on the suburbs or the countryside. I mean, kids hatred for the suburbs have inspired tons of movies and songs, for the city, not so much.
- brianwawok 12y ago
  Really? My daughter hated the big city. "I can't even go outside alone". Who knows, maybe she will move back when she is 20 and love it.
  - tlear 12y ago
    Thats a problem with messed up North American culture. Kids should be able to go outside by themselves in cities. They do exactly that all over the world. In places much more dangerous then normal city in US. I commuted to school at age of 9, having to switch streetcars and walk for 15 mins. Total time of about 40 mins one way. Often I would walk back through the city instead, this would take about 2 hours of wondering through city of more then 2 million. I love cities, but I also love countryside in different way. I despise suburbs.
    - coldtea 12y ago
      >Thats a problem with messed up North American culture. Kids should be able to go outside by themselves in cities. They do exactly that all over the world They did exactly that in the US too, up until the eighties -- and at a time when cities had crime rates even higher than today. There is this nice article from the Austin Chronicle about it (pdf): http://michaelventura.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/This-Is-Where-I-Came-In-August-22-2003.pdf http://michaelventura.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/This-Is...
      - tlear 12y ago
        yeah I was talking about present, it is really weird why this change happened
pjmorris 12y ago
I also grew up in a relaxed beach town in Florida, and hated it (then). I've moved to larger, and larger, and larger cities since, pursuing academia and career, and they have their charms and I'm glad I went. But now I miss the beach town, and hope to get back. I guess we are the sum of our experiences. Maybe the feeling you're missing out helps by driving you to seek new things out.
mod 12y ago
I grew up in a relaxed beach town in Florida (Venice), and I liked it pretty well--but all of my peers hated it. "There's nothing to do here." I just thought "seriously? We have everything but a theme park." Go carts, beaches, movies, skating rinks, arcades, everything! I've since learned that kids say that no matter where they live, seemingly.
- vitd 12y ago
  I grew up in Flint, MI in the 80s. We didn't just think it was the worst place in the country to live – Rand McNally actually rated it as the worst place in the country to live! But teen angst aside, I got a really good education, and had a lot of fun and opportunities growing up. (I actually lived in the suburbs of Flint and my family was middle class, so that probably helped.) I hated it at the time, but I can see the good and the bad now that I'm removed from it. I don't think I could ever go back, but there were positives despite its problems.
- longlivegnu 12y ago
  As a software engineer near Venice FL in his early 20s there isn't a lot to do here still. I guess some people do enjoy going to the beach a lot but it definitely gets old.
  - mod 12y ago
    Great outdoor activities (saltwater & freshwater fishing, myakka river, camping, pretty awesome parks, beach obviously). I personally hate the beach--sand, salt, and sunburn are three of my least favorite things. Venice YMCA has a ton of offerings--rock wall, skate park, basketball gym, adult leagues, etc. You have pretty much every other normal amenity, like theaters & community college. Tampa isn't far for theme parks, concerts, etc. You're missing having a hometown bar scene, but those aren't too far anyway (and the 20-somethings make do with what's available, anyway). What do you feel like you're missing?
- Nicholas_C 12y ago
  I have a similar anecdote. My parents moved from the country into practically the middle of Austin and took my little brother with them. He always complains how there is nothing to do in Austin and he wishes he still lived out in the country where we're from. Which is ridiculous, because there is never nothing to do in Austin!

by nkozyra 12y ago

kenrikm 12y ago

Grew up in Fort Lauderdale (city) and my family owned land over in Everglades City (country) where we would go and enjoy the outdoors. Swimming fishing and boating in the 10,000 islands. Overall I actually had a pretty good childhood. A few years ago I moved to the Bay Area and do like it here. However recently I've been looking to purchase some land just outside the Bay Area to build a small cabin and grow a garden,and enjoy the outdoors. I feel like it's important that my son not just grow up in an apartment playing on playgrounds with rubberized ground so he does not hurt himself.

declan 12y ago
>I've been looking to purchase some land just outside the Bay Area to build a small cabin... You can do this in the Bay Area itself, though in general the closer you want to be to a supermarket, bank, etc. the more you'll pay. If you're west of Palo Alto, Los Altos, Mountain View, Cupertino and cross the 280, you encounter rural areas very quickly. And if you head far enough into the hills, prices begin to fall rapidly relative to flatland prices. Near Boulder Creek, for instance, you can get 2 acres for $52K that's three miles from a shopping area: https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Lorenzo-Valley/0-HARMON-GULCH-95006/home/23468434 https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Lorenzo-Valley/0-HARMON-GULCH-... That's 23 miles from Cupertino via route 17 and smaller roads. Of course it helps if you enjoy living in the middle of the woods! I've posted about this concept on HN before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9437492 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9437492
- kenrikm 12y ago
  Yup, also if you head south you get more open ground and the prices fall rapidly. For example I found a some land within an hour of San Jose with 100acres for 200k. The trick is finding a lot with good water access. I'm up in San Mateo so it's a bit more of a drive. Ideally I could get somthing within an hour and a half drive at a reasonable price.
  - declan 12y ago
    That's cheaper than I thought it would be! But if you're trying to get to a job in San Mateo from someplace like Gilroy or Hollister, that would be a bit of a hellish commute. Maybe you could pull it off more easily if you work off-hours? Also if you're within an hour's drive of San Jose you may be paying Silicon Valley prices for new construction, which tends not to be cheap. But if you're willing to live that far from work and can find water and a nice lot, I'd give it a try. Also with a private pilot certificate you could fly an older ~$20K Cessna from South County or Hollister to KSQL pretty quickly on most days -- certainly a fraction of your effective groundspeed in 101 traffic -- and bike from there to work.
    - sedachv 12y ago
      Thanks a lot for the airplane tip, I had no idea you could get a decent Cessna 172 for 20-30k. That would certainly be an awesome commute.
      - declan 12y ago
        Quite welcome! Engineers (I take it you are one) seem to make natural pilots, in my experience. I don't own a plane but have in the post thought idly about commuting to the SF bay area from the Sierras. I've heard of pilots doing it from Pine Mountain Lake in the foothills, for instance, and a faster plane would make living in Nevada doable. Trade-A-Plane lists 145 Cessnas for sale under $30K, though most in that range are 152s. There are a few older 172s: http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/aircraft/Single+Engine+Piston/1969/Cessna/172K+Skyhawk/2074188.html http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/aircraft/Single+Engine+P... It would be nice to have the additional capacity of a 172, especially if you want to (a) fly with two friends, for three people total or (b) you're a large or heavy person yourself, which might exceed the maximum payload of a 152 with a similarly large or heavy flight instructor or passenger. Also I don't think 152s can be IFR certified. It is kinda funny that these older Cessnas are now cheaper than the average car! Anyway, good luck on your project!
dougmccune 12y ago
If you're in the Bay Area and want your kid exposed to less sheltered play spaces, there's the Adventure Playground in Berkeley, where kids can get tokens for collecting rusty nails and then trade them in for paint to paint all the play structures. http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/adventureplayground/ http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/adventureplayground/

Immortalin 12y ago

After all, the grass is always greener on the other side..

M8 12y ago
And that is why our species is present on all continents.
jefurii 12y ago
Except in California.

silverbax88 12y ago

I was born in a large city and we moved to a rural area when I was in grade school. We lived there for years and it was okay, but when I was a teenager I moved out at 16 and made my way back to the big city. I never moved back to the country. Okay to visit, but fuck that, I realized quickly that I much preferred the city over the country.

coldtea 12y ago

>I have this feeling that kids tend to hate where they grow up Even so, you don't hear as many kids hating on the big city as they hate on the suburbs or the countryside. I mean, kids hatred for the suburbs have inspired tons of movies and songs, for the city, not so much.

brianwawok 12y ago
Really? My daughter hated the big city. "I can't even go outside alone". Who knows, maybe she will move back when she is 20 and love it.
- tlear 12y ago
  Thats a problem with messed up North American culture. Kids should be able to go outside by themselves in cities. They do exactly that all over the world. In places much more dangerous then normal city in US. I commuted to school at age of 9, having to switch streetcars and walk for 15 mins. Total time of about 40 mins one way. Often I would walk back through the city instead, this would take about 2 hours of wondering through city of more then 2 million. I love cities, but I also love countryside in different way. I despise suburbs.
  - coldtea 12y ago
    >Thats a problem with messed up North American culture. Kids should be able to go outside by themselves in cities. They do exactly that all over the world They did exactly that in the US too, up until the eighties -- and at a time when cities had crime rates even higher than today. There is this nice article from the Austin Chronicle about it (pdf): http://michaelventura.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/This-Is-Where-I-Came-In-August-22-2003.pdf http://michaelventura.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/This-Is...
    - tlear 12y ago
      yeah I was talking about present, it is really weird why this change happened

pjmorris 12y ago

I also grew up in a relaxed beach town in Florida, and hated it (then). I've moved to larger, and larger, and larger cities since, pursuing academia and career, and they have their charms and I'm glad I went. But now I miss the beach town, and hope to get back. I guess we are the sum of our experiences. Maybe the feeling you're missing out helps by driving you to seek new things out.

mod 12y ago

I grew up in a relaxed beach town in Florida (Venice), and I liked it pretty well--but all of my peers hated it. "There's nothing to do here." I just thought "seriously? We have everything but a theme park." Go carts, beaches, movies, skating rinks, arcades, everything! I've since learned that kids say that no matter where they live, seemingly.

vitd 12y ago
I grew up in Flint, MI in the 80s. We didn't just think it was the worst place in the country to live – Rand McNally actually rated it as the worst place in the country to live! But teen angst aside, I got a really good education, and had a lot of fun and opportunities growing up. (I actually lived in the suburbs of Flint and my family was middle class, so that probably helped.) I hated it at the time, but I can see the good and the bad now that I'm removed from it. I don't think I could ever go back, but there were positives despite its problems.
longlivegnu 12y ago
As a software engineer near Venice FL in his early 20s there isn't a lot to do here still. I guess some people do enjoy going to the beach a lot but it definitely gets old.
- mod 12y ago
  Great outdoor activities (saltwater & freshwater fishing, myakka river, camping, pretty awesome parks, beach obviously). I personally hate the beach--sand, salt, and sunburn are three of my least favorite things. Venice YMCA has a ton of offerings--rock wall, skate park, basketball gym, adult leagues, etc. You have pretty much every other normal amenity, like theaters & community college. Tampa isn't far for theme parks, concerts, etc. You're missing having a hometown bar scene, but those aren't too far anyway (and the 20-somethings make do with what's available, anyway). What do you feel like you're missing?
Nicholas_C 12y ago
I have a similar anecdote. My parents moved from the country into practically the middle of Austin and took my little brother with them. He always complains how there is nothing to do in Austin and he wishes he still lived out in the country where we're from. Which is ridiculous, because there is never nothing to do in Austin!